Felipe Massa

I searched through the forum archives and couldn't find a general Massa thread, so considering it's his 30th birthday today, I thought I'd start one.

With a muchly improved race in China, it looks like Massa could be living up to the pre-season potential with the Pirelli tyres seemingly suiting him better. Turkey is next, and we know how good Massa has been there. After Melbourne I must say I had some doubts as to whether Felipe would ever win again, but I think it is possible after the last two races, if Ferrari can give him a good strategy. Seeing his angry reaction after China, I think the fire in his belly is burning hotter than it possibly has for a while, and I think one win could spark a good run of results. Of course, one of the most interesting parts of this will be to see the reaction of Alonso and Ferrari if Massa starts taking the lead.

Here are some comments from the Ferrari website for his birthday.

“Hi Felipe and all my very best birthday wishes! You have got there a few months before me as, in July it will be my turn to turn thirty, so you’ll be able to tell me if it’s something special to reach this age. Joking apart, I want to tell you that I’m happy to be alongside you at Ferrari: I think we make up a good duo, respecting one another and working well together, in the knowledge that the interests of the team come before those of the individual. Now I hope we will soon a have a car good enough to see us fight for the top places, after which it will be down to the two of us to try and win.”

“Dear Felipe, I wish you all the very best for your thirtieth birthday. It’s a special day for you and also for all of us: you have been part of our family for ten years now and I know that you now live and breathe Ferrari. Your talent and your good nature mean that each and everyone of us appreciates you as a driver, but even more so as a person. Enjoy this day with your lovely family knowing that we can expect the new few weeks to be crucial for our championship chances.”

“Dear friend, I send you a hug of affection for your thirtieth birthday, not just from me but from all the men and women at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. We have known one another for such a long time and we have shared great moments together as well as some dramatic times and through them all, we have always been united, which is what makes our relationship special. When you arrived in Maranello you were a kid and while here, you have become a man: we still have a long road to travel together and we hope it will be full of well deserved success. A present? All of us are working flat out on it at Maranello, without pausing for breath: you know what I’m talking about…”

Of course Alonso can't even resist some psychological games in a birthday message, which I suppose isn't a huge surprise. Maybe he will change his tune if Massa or another driver ever gets the upper hand over him at the team.

Stefano's message does sound quite genuine, but of course it's always hard to take these sort of comments at face value, considering much of it comes from their PR people.

Although i doubt he has the capabilities to outperform Alonso over a whole season; i think he will outperform from time to time. Was very pleased with his performance in China and, as you say, Turkey is a great track for him so hopefully he can get a good result and maybe Ferrari's first podium of the year. Nice comments from the Ferrari personnel aswell. I'll always have a soft spot for Felipe after that wonderful Brazil 08 GP.

Although i doubt he has the capabilities to outperform Alonso over a whole season; i think he will outperform from time to time. Was very pleased with his performance in China and, as you say, Turkey is a great track for him so hopefully he can get a good result and maybe Ferrari's first podium of the year. Nice comments from the Ferrari personnel aswell. I'll always have a soft spot for Felipe after that wonderful Brazil 08 GP.

Ferrari is so desperate to be back to winning again, that I think that they will not favor Alonso (regardless of whatever Santander's preferences might be) if Massa starts driving again the way he did before his accident. I thought Massa was never going to drive well again until last race. Now I am thinking it's 50/50 that he will become the first driver at Ferrari. Of course it's too earlier to judge very much, but last race was as promising a race for Ferrari/Massa as I can imagine so early. I have to believe that Alonso has turned out to be much more mistake-prone than Ferrari was expecting. If this doesn't improve and Massa can get up to level of something like 90% as good as his prime then I think he'll be the bigger point-scorer this season. Quite the opposite of what everyone was expecting!

Shall we have a stake on how long it takes the fanboy brigades to turn this into 'alonso vs massa' thread 2?

Haven't they already started with it? Even the OP introduced the subject. And yes, it is sad that a Felipe Massa thread cannot be created without immediately attacking his teammate, but I cannot say it comes as a surprise - we all seem to be very polarized as of lately.

Anyway, I just wanted to wish Massa a happy birthday, and leave this little memento of his first season... I was thinking of this during the Australia battle between Button and Massa

Edit: Massa ended 5th in this GP, his best result on his first year in F1

Haven't they already started with it? Even the OP introduced the subject. And yes, it is sad that a Felipe Massa thread cannot be created without immediately attacking his teammate, but I cannot say it comes as a surprise - we all seem to be very polarized as of lately.

It was not my pre-meditated intention to attack Alonso in this thread. However, those comments were ridiculous in a birthday message..

I think Alonso is a relevant topic for this thread as Massa's performance against Alonso is critical in determining his future in the sport. There aren't many top line drives available in the next few years, so if he can't succeed at Ferrari...

Happy birthday, Felipe. Again let's be thankful he's reached that age. Let's also remember he is the completely-ignored "other" driver who was incompatible with last years tyres, so while his performance gains are good to see, they're really quite necessary.

I hope he gets the better of Mclaren's Hamilton and Button and RB's Vettel and Webber at Turkey. That is the true path to no. 1 position at Ferrari. Finishing 6th or 7th after blocking his teammate does nothing for him or the team.

As a Hamilton fan I was obviously happy with the 2008 championship result. However, I was still sad for Massa as he seems like a decent, genuine guy. Once it was clear the 2009 Ferrari was going to be a bit of a dud I became concerned Felipe may have missed his only chance at a WDC, especially since the Alonso rumors seemed very strong. Then he had his accident in Hungary which seemed to affect him through 2010, which is understandable as it was such a shocking incident so I feared Massa had lost something after the crash.

However, so far this year he has looked smoother and sharper and at times has had the measure of Alonso. He appears to have captured some of his 2008 form. I hope Ferrari give Felipe a fair crack this season. However Ferrari will need to improve their car for him to really shine.

The Pirelli tyres suit Massa much more than Alonso, but Massa had more mechanical problems which wasn't reported. This year could be the year Massa outperforms Alonso, who seems very down when you see him in the paddock.

I hope he gets the better of Mclaren's Hamilton and Button and RB's Vettel and Webber at Turkey. That is the true path to no. 1 position at Ferrari. Finishing 6th or 7th after blocking his teammate does nothing for him or the team.

When did that happen?? are not you suppose to overtake your team mate if you are faster to go in front?? Happy birthday Felipe..

The Pirelli tyres suit Massa much more than Alonso, but Massa had more mechanical problems which wasn't reported. This year could be the year Massa outperforms Alonso, who seems very down when you see him in the paddock.

Don't talk too soon..for sure last year MAS was driving like he was afraid, but his fight with BUT in Australia was really hard.. hopefully he can gain his pace and drive up there to bring Ferrari some points..

Happy birthday Felipe!!!
I think this season is going to be quite interesting, he's coming back, but he's still having problems in qualy, which was always his strength. When he sorts them out, Alonso will have quite a fight on his hands ;)

Didn't think much of him when he used to test for Ferrari but since his move to the team as driver I've come to like him. The Kimi-Felipe duo was good enough but since Ferrari took Alonso onboard I've wanted him to get the hell out of there. 30 now, still got a few years of racing left in him, hope it all works out for him as I think he deserves to be world champion someday. Good man.

Although i doubt he has the capabilities to outperform Alonso over a whole season; i think he will outperform from time to time. Was very pleased with his performance in China and, as you say, Turkey is a great track for him so hopefully he can get a good result and maybe Ferrari's first podium of the year. Nice comments from the Ferrari personnel aswell. I'll always have a soft spot for Felipe after that wonderful Brazil 08 GP.

I'll be honest, I thought he was on borrowed time at Ferrari and his career was in a nose dive. But he's really turned it round recently and started out scoring Alonso. Not sure how he did that or what prompted it but to him.

How fickle are some people? The only reason Massa finished ahead of Alonso in Malaysia was because Alonso had to pit for a new nose. And after the only race where Massa generally outpaced Alonso people say he's back to his old self? How low do people rate Alonso?

Shall we have a stake on how long it takes the fanboy brigades to turn this into 'alonso vs massa' thread 2?

Happy B-Day Felipe!!!

I hope he gets the better of Mclaren's Hamilton and Button and RB's Vettel and Webber at Turkey. That is the true path to no. 1 position at Ferrari. Finishing 6th or 7th after blocking his teammate does nothing for him or the team.

How fickle are some people? The only reason Massa finished ahead of Alonso in Malaysia was because Alonso had to pit for a new nose. And after the only race where Massa generally outpaced Alonso people say he's back to his old self? How low do people rate Alonso?

I rate Alonso very highly, so when Massa out qualifies him, he's get respect. We'll see in the coming weeks if it was a blip or a genuine resurgence from Massa I guess. Did you not think it noteworthy?

I'll be honest, I thought he was on borrowed time at Ferrari and his career was in a nose dive. But he's really turned it round recently and started out scoring Alonso. Not sure how he did that or what prompted it but to him.

I'm glad to see Felipe doing well, but don't forget that after 3 races last year he was the championship leader. I hope he can keep it up, but nothing is decided at this stage of the season.

I rate Alonso very highly, so when Massa out qualifies him, he's get respect. We'll see in the coming weeks if it was a blip or a genuine resurgence from Massa I guess. Did you not think it noteworthy?

But wouldn't all this talk of Felipe 'not being his old self' undermine Alonso's performances everytime he outperforms him?

But wouldn't all this talk of Felipe 'not being his old self' undermine Alonso's performances everytime he outperforms him?

I think the gap (that was there in the races for most of 2010) was more about a decline in Massa's form than Alonso suddenly 'finding' something to further out perform him. I think most observers concluded that. But you don't have to agree.

How fickle are some people? The only reason Massa finished ahead of Alonso in Malaysia was because Alonso had to pit for a new nose. And after the only race where Massa generally outpaced Alonso people say he's back to his old self? How low do people rate Alonso?

Massa was ahead, and slightly faster than, Alonso in the first stint at Malaysia, before the team ruined his race with a bad pitstop, so it isn't really a fair comparison. The bad pitstop meant that he had to pass Alguersuari, Perez and Webber in the 2nd stint, and then got stuck behind Heidfeld. The team also didn't help him by keeping him out a lap longer to block Vettel when his tyres were dead and Heidfeld had pitted. Sure Alonso caught him a lot at the end, but we saw again in China that the Ferrari has quite a big drop-off on the hard tyres, and Alonso didn't reach this stage because of his extra pitstop.

I'm glad to see Felipe doing well, but don't forget that after 3 races last year he was the championship leader. I hope he can keep it up, but nothing is decided at this stage of the season.

The starts to Felipe's seasons seem to be always the opposite to his overall performance, so maybe that is a good sign for this year...

I think the gap (that was there in the races for most of 2010) was more about a decline in Massa's form than Alonso suddenly 'finding' something to further out perform him. I think most observers concluded that. But you don't have to agree.

But isn't Alonso considered the best along with Hamilton? Assuming that, wouldn't the gap to between Alonso and Massa naturally be that big?

Don't forget that all of Massa's race wins were achieved in 2006-2008, when Ferrari had the fastest car. We see that without the best car Massa cannot do as he did in those years. So while alot of people think with their heart rather than their head and blame his form, I blame other things like the fact he has Alonso as a teammate and his car isn't quite as good as it was back in the grooved tyre days...

Massa was ahead, and slightly faster than, Alonso in the first stint at Malaysia, before the team ruined his race with a bad pitstop, so it isn't really a fair comparison. The bad pitstop meant that he had to pass Alguersuari, Perez and Webber in the 2nd stint, and then got stuck behind Heidfeld. The team also didn't help him by keeping him out a lap longer to block Vettel when his tyres were dead and Heidfeld had pitted. Sure Alonso caught him a lot at the end, but we saw again in China that the Ferrari has quite a big drop-off on the hard tyres, and Alonso didn't reach this stage because of his extra pitstop.

Same could be said for Alonso in China when he lost more time in the pit stops due to Massa pitting first. And to make up time in the races the tyres have to be used up, so if a car ahead is too far in front there's no point.

Don't forget that all of Massa's race wins were achieved in 2006-2008, when Ferrari had the fastest car. We see that without the best car Massa cannot do as he did in those years. So while alot of people think with their heart rather than their head and blame his form, I blame other things like the fact he has Alonso as a teammate and his car isn't quite as good as it was back in the grooved tyre days...

Well think about 2009 for instance, he was the best of the rest, leaving out brawn/red bull. Personally i think up until his accidnet his 2009 season was brillian!!

Well supposedly when Felipe was told in hospital that Kimi finished 2nd in Hungary, Felipe instantly said that he could have won.

I'd say Hungary, Valencia and Brazil were all potential chances for a Massa win considering his record at those tracks and Kimi's performance.

Raikkonen could have been in contention for victory at Brazil, but his collision with Webber put an end to that. Who knows what Massa could have done.It's bizzare to think that his last victory was way back in 2008.